


Deep In The Woods

by Alex (Will_the_Wise)



Series: When Nightmares Become Reality [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Anxiety, Coming Out, Curiosity, Danger, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fear, Fluff, Guilt, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, Investigations, M/M, Maxine "Max" Mayfield is a Good Friend, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Period-Typical Homophobia, Post-Season/Series 02, Pre-Season/Series 03, Protect Will Byers, Protective Mike Wheeler, Self-Hatred, Trauma, Will Byers Has Powers, Will Byers Needs a Hug, emotional breakdowns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-07-31 01:23:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20106862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Will_the_Wise/pseuds/Alex
Summary: A few weeks have passed since Will and Mike started dating in secret however the other Party members have noticed their sudden increase in time spent together.Then, during the week of the Snow Ball, Max, Mike and Will investigate something strange happening in Hawkins which leads to the return of a threat they thought they'd forever defeated.*Now updating daily bc I can"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's been one month since season 3 released!! A lot longer than it feels
> 
> This is my sequel to the other fic I wrote in the series which follows on a few weeks later.  
Before anything I do recommend you read that one before this if you haven't already since I do mention a lot of the stuff that takes place there. You'd also get to read about how Mike and Will began dating!
> 
> I wanted to write something that had a bit more focus on the danger/horror side of Stranger Things so I came up with this. I hope you enjoy!

The past few weeks had certainly been eventful; Will told Mike and Max about his nightmares, confessed his feelings to Mike, they'd started dating and were now somehow managing to keep it a secret from everyone else. Well, everyone except Max, since she's the one who encouraged Will to tell Mike how he felt in the first place. Which he did, although it was totally by accident during a breakdown, which then led to another breakdown... but it resulted in them dating, and that's all that matters!  
Will's nightmares faded away, quickly changing from having them every night to only a few nights a week to none at all. Having Mike and Max to go to when he needed support or comforting was definitely helpful.

But now it was the week of the Snow Ball, the annual winter school dance that everyone dreaded.  
Except this year where, for whatever reason, everyone in the Party decided they wanted to go. Of course Mike and Will would love to go _together_ but they knew it wasn't possible so they were ultimately against the idea, especially since Lucas and Dustin probably expected Mike to go with El, if she was given permission to attend.  
At the very least they'd all already planned a huge sleepover at Will's house in the next couple of nights- the whole Party would attend, including El who already had permission from Hopper.

Startled, Will gasped and sprung up in his bed at the blaring ring of his alarm. Mike stirred beside him, worried that he'd had another nightmare or something had happened before glancing at the clock and noticing the time.

“Oh crap.” he muttered before him and Will both hurriedly jumped out of bed.

Will frantically gathered together some clothes and most of his school of equipment. “I can't believe we overslept, _again_!”

“It- it's okay, Will, we'll make it.” Mike stuttered as he also rapidly shoved books into his bag.

After five minutes of panicking, the two of them were ready to leave, so they gave a brief farewell to Joyce and Jonathan before running out the house, mounting their bikes and cycling away.

Mike's stomach rumbled. “Did we have to skip breakfast?” he complained.

“Yes!” Will hissed. “We'd be even later than we already are!”  
Will turned to glare at Mike but when their gazes met Will could only smile. He rolled his eyes. “You can eat something at school.” he chuckled.

“Just one more week.” Mike sighed with despair.

“Which isn't too long!” Will consoled him. “And we have that sleepover in a few days which will be fun!”

“Several full nights without seeing Will Byers? Torture.” Mike pouted, earning a laugh from Will. “We just need to be careful, I get the feeling some of the others are catching on to how much more time we've been spending together recently.”

Will's smile faded instantly. “Yeah me too. I hate that we can't just be open about _us_.” his voice cracked at the end.

Mike looked over to see him staring at the road as they cycled, a sad and troubled expression worn across his face.

“I guess, if you wanted, we could always tell them?” Mike suggested but felt a pit form in his stomach at the thought.

Will's expression was replaced with one of worry and fear. “How would they react?”

“Max was cool about it.”

“Yeah but that's one person.” Will countered. “Lucas, Dustin and El? What if they-”

“Hey, stop. It was just a thought, we don't have to say anything.” Mike reminded him. “I think they'd be accepting though, we've all known eachother for ages, and I doubt El would care much.”

Will shrugged. “I guess, but if it's okay with you, could we keep it a secret?” Will asked. “At least for now.” he quickly added.

Mike smiled comfortingly. “Of course!”

Will let out a sigh of relief. Confessing to Mike was scary enough, but everyone else too? That was a thought Will certainly didn't want to linger on.

The rest of their journey was spent mostly in silence.

“Can class get anymore boring?” Max exclaimed irritably as she collapsed onto their usual hangout bench at lunchtime.

“That was _so_ boring.” Lucas agreed, sitting down beside her.

“At least we have science next.” Dustin stated as he then sat beside Lucas.

Mike and Will were already sat together opposite the three of them.

“I'd rather be at home.” Mike groaned, slouching onto the table. “So tired...”

Will looked between each of them with a smile. “Come on guys, it's not so bad! Only a few more days left.”

“Yeah, a few days of misery.” Max grunted.

“And boredom.” Lucas added.

“Misery and boredom.” Dustin summarised with a fake smile.

Will abandoned the plan of cheering up his friends and instead diverted his attention elsewhere. He purposelessly scanned the area, eyes falling over groups of friends each participating in different activities until he eventually spied a bird- a raven to be precise- energetically flicking its head around as it bounced across a tree branch. Will was suddenly filled with a suffocating emptiness as the back of his neck tingled and he shivered violently. He didn't pull his eyes away from the bird; he studied its continuous unusual movements of darting its eyes around as if in search for something. Its eyes then fell upon Will and it froze, staring at him. Will was rooted to the spot. The raven tilted its head to the side and slowly opened up its beak.

Something soft and warm stroked Will's hand which shook him out of his trance. He saw Mike looking over at him, hand directly beside his own. He almost naturally reached out to lock their fingers together but stopped himself upon remembering where they were and who was _right_ infront of them both.

“You okay?” Mike frowned

“Yeah of course.” Will answered with a bright smile that soon spread to Mike's face too.

He turned back to take a quick final glance at the raven but found it missing from its perch. He swiftly examined the trees and sky surrounding it but they were all empty.  
Will didn't think too much on it. _It's just cold is all_ he told himself when reflecting on the unfortunately familiar shiver that crept down his neck and spine.

“Technically Max shouldn't be invited to the sleepover since it's for Party members only.” Lucas joked.

She playfully but also painfully punched him in the shoulder. “Oh screw off.”

Dustin laughed and Mike cracked an amused grin.  
Everything was normal for once.

Until Max came running to Mike and Will just before they departed home at the end of the school day.

“Some stupid cat...” she panted as she halted infront of them. “... jumped through our classroom window.”

“What?!” Mike and Will said with shock and disbelief.

“I know, crazy.” she agreed.

Will cocked his eye brows as he pondered about the strange animal behaviour.

“What's wrong?” Max asked.

“I noticed something weird earlier too.” he mentioned, gaining Max and Mike's interest. “I saw a raven at lunch acting strangely. It looked like it was searching for something but then stopped when it saw me. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.” Will explained but purposefully avoided the details about the shivers and feeling that very faintly reminded him of the Mind Flayer.

“Wait a bird?” Max inquired.

“Yeah.” Will shrugged.

Max looked at Mike who then looked at Will. “Like one of the birds from _that_ day a few weeks ago?” he asked.

“Maybe but it's probably just coincidence.”

“Okay but what if it's not.” Max suggested.

A silent blanket of dread fell over the three of them.

“We can't take any chances.” Mike finally decided. “We should go into the woods and take a look around. Just in case.”

Nobody had to ask to know what he meant by _just in case._

“Should we tell the others?” Will asked.

“It's probably nothing so let's not for now. But, if it does turn out to be something...” Mike trailed off.

Will took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

“Let's do it.” Max agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max, Mike and Will begin their investigation and, after a disturbing discovery, Will thinks he feels a familiar presence.

“So what exactly is it that we're looking for?” Max questioned, studying the treetops towering above them.

“I dunno, anything out of the ordinary.” Mike replied as he swung himself around a tree to see Will bent over and slowly walking around with his head down and focused.

“Hey Byers,” Mike called out cheerfully, “what're you looking at?”

“The floor, _Wheeler_,” Will laughed, “Maybe there are some footprints or something...”

“I doubt birds would leave many footprints.” Max stated also swinging herself around a tree.

“Yeah, well maybe there are other things too like that cat you mentioned from class.” he explained.

Max nodded understandingly. “Yeah but let's jut focus on the birds for now,” and she was gone again.

“Fine.” 

As Will strolled past, Mike grabbed a handful of leaves from the floor and dropped them into his hair with a smile.  
Will flinched, grabbing at his hair and throwing the leaves away.

“Hey!” he lightheartedly glared at Mike as a smirk formed across his face.

Mike giggled. He walked over and plucked the last few leaves from Will's soft hair.  
“There you go.” he said contentedly.

Will playfully punched him in the shoulder then continued deeper into the woods in search of clues.

Mike turned around and stared at the surrounding forest. With a deep sigh, he aimlessly walked forwards, eyes flicking over every tiny surface in search of something that apparently wasn't anywhere to be found. A few more moments passed before Mike's eyes landed on the familiar figure of Castle Byers in the distance.

“Well we found Castle Byers.” Mike said pointing to it.

Will and Max looked over.  
She then turned to Will.

“Remember that day when you and I were attacked by that raven?”

He nodded.

“Well that was only a little bit north from Castle Byers, right? So we should be finding _something._” Max stated.

As if in response, the three of them heard a nearby bush rustle. Then silence. They exchanged anxious glances before slowly and quietly stepping towards the sound. Some leaves rustled again.  
Mike stopped a few steps infront of the bush soon followed by Will and Max who stationed themselves beside him. Will's hand reached out to grab Mike's.

“Do you see anything?” Max muttered.

Mike shook his head. He leaned closer slightly to try and see into the bush. He saw some movement before two glowing yellow eyes stared back at him.  
He recoiled in surprise and took a step back, dragging Will with him. His boyfriend looked confused but followed. Max turned to look at them, perplexed.

The bush then shook again even more violently.

“Max get away!” Mike yelled but it was too late.

Suddenly a black cat pounced from within the shrubbery and collided with Max's chest; it pinned her to the floor, hissing and snapping its head around. She screamed but successfully pushed it off with ease. Will briefly broke away from Mike to run over to her, grab her hand and help her back up to her feet.

“Thanks.” she said shakily.

The cat scrambled back onto its feet. Its eyes were filled with terror and distress. However, it continued to rapidly dart its head around, scrabbling along the floor and kicking up leaves.  
It seemed to be scared of something...  
But then its eyes landed on Will and it froze abruptly. It stared.

Max and Will were rooted to the spot, staring deep into the crazed cat's eyes.  
Mike was stood to the far left of the scene- he was watching attentively but hesitant to make any moves towards his friends.

The cat then sprang forward. Max and Will didn't skip a beat; they dashed to their right to avoid the assault then swiftly looped around to join up with Mike. Together they continued sprinting through the trees.  
Max risked a glance over her shoulder to see the feral cat quickly gaining on them.

“We should split up to distract it.” Max stated turning back to them.

Mike and Will nodded.

“Meet back at Castle Byers.” Will spoke before the three of them split up; Max ran left, Will right and Mike continued forwards.

The cat didn't hesitate. Instantaneously, it averted its trail to pursue Will.  
Mike stopped for a moment to turn and look at who was being followed. Max had vanished from view but then he saw the cat chasing Will.

“Shit!” he muttered.

Mike urgently charged towards him but the space between Will and the cat was shortening by the second- he wouldn't make it in time.

“Will!” Mike yelled. “Behind you!”

Will gasped and spun around as the cat once again lunged at him. He jumped back in attempts to dodge but the cat landed on his chest regardless and pinned him to the ground.  
The second Will's back collided with the forest floor, it immediately stopped its attacks and began shaking. Its eyes screwed up in agony. Several choked hisses and cries escaped from its throat.  
Will's breathing quickened. The back of his neck tingled and a sudden wave of freezing cold overwhelmed him. He couldn't move. He felt _so_ cold and empty...

Then Mike appeared by his side and hurriedly removed the cat from his chest.

“Hey, Will, you're okay.” Mike said softly, crouching down and locking their hands together again.

Tears stung Will's eyes. He tried to move but he couldn't.  
It pained Mike more than he could express to see Will in such a terrified state, especially after laughing and joking with him only mere minutes ago.

“I can't move.” he whispered fearfully.

Mike's heart sunk. “Okay, I'll help you up.”

Gently and slowly, Mike wrapped his arm around Will's back and started to lift him up as he pulled his arm.

“I can't move my legs!” Will cried out. His breath caught in his throat as panic flowed through him.

“Hey, you're okay.” Mike whispered. He wrapped both his arms around Will in a tight embrace. “Just take it slow and try to move your legs okay?”

Will nodded. Mike gently stroked Will's back to try and help comfort him at least a little bit.  
Mike then peered over his shoulder to see the cat curled up motionless. Unsettled by the sight, he returned his attention to Will who was gradually beginning to move his legs again.

“Okay!” Mike smiled. “I'll help you up.”

He stood up again. Holding Will's hand tight, he carefully pulled Will back up onto his feet. He stumbled against Mike so he raised his other hand to grab Will's shoulder to steady him.

“Thanks.” said Will but he was obviously still freaked out.

Mike was too, admittedly. His gaze drifted back to the cat laying on the floor- it was everything but dead. Will turned to look at it too and stepped back beside Mike.

“What's wrong with it?” he muttered, worried that a loud noise may wake it from its strange sleep.

“I don't know. There are feral cats but there's something wrong.” Mike replied.

He grabbed Will's hand again and hastily led them away from the scene.

Him and Will quickly walked through the forest in silence, restlessly looking around in search of Max or signs of anything else unusual.

“Mike...” Will breathed out finally.

“Yeah?”

“Earlier I felt... cold, and empty.” he paused. “It was the same feeling I had whenever the Mind Flayer was near...”

Mike stopped instantly. He turned to Will.

“You're sure?”

Will nodded hesitantly. “But, he can't be back, can he? El closed the gate.” he tried to assure himself.

“Yeah, she did. Well you were scared and it's really cold this time of year so maybe it was just that.” Mike suggested.

“Probably.” Will whispered.

He wasn't convinced and Mike could tell. Doubt had planted itself in Mike's mind too but he simply brushed it off as nothing more than paranoia.

Will and Mike arrived at Castle Byers after three or four more minutes of walking. Max was already sat inside, blowing into her hands and rubbing them together to keep herself warm.  
Mike and Will crouched down to enter.  
She let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank God you're both okay. What happened?”

“It chased me but when it got to me it just kind of... stopped, almost as if it _couldn't_ harm me or do anything.” Will explained. “I know that sounds crazy but...”

“It's what happened.” Mike finished for him. “It was really weird. When I was helping Will it was just curled up on the floor.”

“Was it moving?” Max questioned.

They shook their heads.

“I don't know what the hell is happening here but it's seriously messed up. You don't think it could be...” she trailed off and looked at them expectantly.

“I thought that too. When I was around the cat, I just felt really cold and empty inside like how I felt with the Mind Flayer.”

“But the gate is closed, it's not possible.” Mike added.

“But what if he found some other way in?” Will said worriedly.

Mike shook his head. “No he couldn't have. He won't.”

Nobody argued with him- the thought of the Mind Flayer's return was terrifying enough that none of them really wanted to even entertain the possibility. The gate was closed.  
It was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the support on this!! It means a lot <3
> 
> As I mentioned before, this fic will be updated every other day, so chapter 3 will be published on Wednesday and so on.  
Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a disagreement with Mike, Will goes to Max for help in ensuring that the gate is definitely closed.

The three of them were still very shaken up the next morning.

Mike stayed the night at Will's again since he didn't want to leave him alone after what happened in the woods. Will was thankful of course, but even Joyce and Mike's parents were beginning to get suspicious over the sudden increase in their time spent together which only added another thing to worry about over the already huge pile of worrying things.

Mike awoke beside Will. He carefully looked over the small boy's shoulder to see him distantly staring through the window.

"Oh, you're awake?"

"Mike!" Will smiled, rolling over to face him. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Mike said, worriedly gazing at Will's smile. Then he recalled himself falling asleep before Will did. "You did sleep last night right?"

Will's smile faded, replaced with a troubled look. "Only a little." he sighed.

"What happened? Did you have a nightmare?"

"N-no, I just couldn't get to sleep until like 4am and then I woke up early." he admitted.

"Will..." Mike whispered softly.

He shuffled closer to Will then rested his head on his shoulder. Mike found his hand and gently held it.  
For a moment they simply stared into eachother's eyes until a loud knocking on the door snapped them out of it. Mike gasped, startled.

"Will? Mike? Are you both awake?" asked Joyce's voice from behind the door.

Mike immediately pulled his hand away from Will's, rolled across the bed and dropped down into the sleeping bag below.

"Yeah we're awake!" Mike called back.

"Okay, breakfast is ready!"

They both listened to her footsteps move down the hallway. Mike let out a deep, relieved sigh. "Ready to get breakfast?"

Will nodded, a smile returning to his face. Mike grinned back at him.  
Together they opened the door and stepped out of Will's bedroom.

They both parked their bikes outside of school as usual beside Lucas' and Dustin's. They looked around for their absent friends until they heard their voices drawing nearer from behind them.

“I am _not_ acting weird!” Max shouted at Lucas as if offended.

Lucas frowned then shook his head.

“Hey.” Max sighed and walked over to join them. She halfheartedly smiled, dark bags under her eyes.

Dustin unzipped his bag to remove a few books. As he was closing his bag again, they slipped out of his hands, crashing loudly on the floor. Mike, Max and Will started, snapping their heads over to stare at him.

“Ah shit.” Dustin muttered as he bent over to pick them up.

“You two as well?” Lucas said looking between Mike and Will accusingly.

“What are you talking about?” Mike asked.

“You're all acting weird!” Dustin stated, books hugged tightly to his chest.

“N-no, no we're not.”

“See?!” Dustin exclaimed.

“What?!”

“You stuttered.” Dustin proclaimed.

“I did not stutter.” Mike argued.

“Yes you did!”

“No I didn't!”

“You _did_, you're acting _weird_! Did something happen?”

“Nothing happened, we are _not_ acting weird.”

“Yes you ar-”

Max threw her hands in the air aggressively. “Would you just shut the hell up!” she said, exasperated.

“Guys calm down!” said Will.

Everybody stood in an incredibly awkward silence, Dustin and Lucas eyeing the three of them suspiciously as Mike and Will pretended to look around and Max angrily tapped the ground with her foot.  
Then the school bell rang, shaking them back to their senses.

“Saved by the bell.” Mike muttered to nobody in particular.

Without another word, Dustin, Lucas and Max started walking away and to class. Mike heard their arguments rise up again until Max groaned loudly, instantly followed by a cry of pain from Lucas. Mike turned his head to glance at them to see what had happened.  
She'd kicked him. He nodded to himself then turned back back to Will.

Will ensured Lucas and Dustin had moved out of earshot before he looked up at Mike.  
“Don't you think we should tell them both?”

“About what?” Mike said worriedly, heart pounding as he suddenly recalled their conversation about coming out to everyone.

Will shot him a confused look. “About what happened yesterday?”

“Oh right.” Relief washed over him. “I don't see any reason to.”

“Don't see any reason to? Mike the Mind Flayer might be back.” he whispered.

“He's not back, Will, you know he can't be.”

“But we don't for sure!”

Mike stepped closer to him, wanting so desperately to caress his cheek and hug him until he felt safe but he knew he couldn't. Not here.  
“Hey, it's gonna be okay. Nothing bad will happen.”

“Then why does it feel like he's back?” Will snapped. “Do you think I'm making this up, Mike? I know what I felt!”

“No, Will of course I don't! It just isn't possible for the Mind Flayer to be back.” Mike repeated.

“We _don't know that!_” Will cried then hurriedly walked away from him.  
He looked on worriedly and sadly as Will strode indoors.

Mike seated himself at his usual desk in his first, out of many, boring classes of the day. He was sat beside the window that overlooked the field.  
The same field in which he found Will, trapped in one of his episodes by the Mind Flayer, two months ago.  
_Two months._  
It was a while ago yet it still felt like it happened yesterday..

Mike reflected on what Will had said, about how he truly sensed the Mind Flayer from that feral cat. Mike believed him, he knew Will would never lie especially about something so serious, but he couldn't think of any way the Mind Flayer could've returned, at least not without anyone noticing. For him to do so the gate would have to reopen, and he was sure somebody would definitely notice that. Well probably.  
So what was it? What was happening?  
The two bird attacks, that cat, they couldn't have been coincidences surely. _Something_ was going on, and while Mike wasn't sure what the cause could be, he was almost positive he could rule out the possibility of the Mind Flayer's influence.  
_Almost._

Will, after what felt like decades, left his class and entered the corridor once the bell finally decided to ring.  
He looked up and down the hallway- part of him wanted to see Mike as he always did but another part wanted to avoid him, at least for the moment. Then he spotted Max stood by her locker.  
He trudged towards her, eyes still scanning the hoards of students leaving their classrooms for any sign of his boyfriend.

Max noticed his strange behaviour and raised her eyebrows.  
“Something wrong Byers?”

He gasped, surprised. “Sorry.”

Max finished removing books and some other equipment from her locker before slamming it shut and facing him again. Will stood awkwardly as he met her eyes, his conversation with Mike lingering in his mind.

“What's wrong?” she asked more worriedly.

“I just had an argument with Mike.” he told her.

“Oh.” she looked around then took a step closer, lowering her voice to whisper. “Are you two still okay?”

“I think so, it was just a disagreement. He's certain that the Mind Flayer can't be back but...” he sighed. “I don't know...”

“Do you really think he is?”

“I think so... maybe.”

“Well how could we find out?”

Will thought for a moment until he was struck by an idea.  
“What about the lab? That's where the gate was, maybe we could go and make sure that it's still closed.” he suggested.

“You want to _break in_ to a government lab which is now closed and abandoned?”

“It's the only way we can know for certain.” he shrugged.

“Okay.” Max agreed.

Will's face lit up. “Really?”

“Why not?” she chuckled. “Wow I can't believe we're actually doing this.”

“So straight after school?”

Max thoughtfully looked down at the bag in her hands. She turned back to her locker, opened it up, removed the rest of her belongings then stuffed them into her bag.  
“Get your stuff.” she said.

“Why?”

“Because we're going now, Byers.” she smiled then set off towards his locker.

“But class starts in like 2 minutes!” he proclaimed, chasing after her.

“I know.” Max said, gesturing to his locker. 

At the ring of the lunch bell, Mike dashed out of his class and made a beeline to the normal bench the Party liked to sit at. Lucas and Dustin were already there but no sign of Will or Max.

“Hey.” Mike waved as he sat down.

“Have you seen Max or Will?” Dustin asked abruptly.

“Not since this morning, why?”

“They were missing from class.” Lucas stated.

_What, where did they go?_ Mike panicked. His heart raced.  
Okay, well at least Will was with Max.  
Wait he didn't know that for sure, maybe their disappearances were completely unrelated! He could phone Will's house but there was no guarantee anybody would answer or that he'd even be there if someone did. Maybe he went to Castle Byers? Normally that thought wouldn't be so bad but the fact everything that had happened yesterday occurred basically directly next to his hideout didn't at all help Mike's peace of mind.  
_Shit, where did they go?_

“Where could they have gone?” Dustin asked.

“Castle Byers?” Lucas suggested.

“Well why would Max go with him? Unless...” Dustin trailed off. He looked at Lucas. “Holy shit I think they _are_ dating!”

“What?! No they're not.” Mike cut in, still panicking internally.

“How do you know?”

“I just do!”

“Then where did they go?” Dustin asked again.

“I don't know...”

“Wait, what if the gate is open? We'll be alone in here!” Will gasped pointing to the building that towered above them both.

They were walking through the car park apprehensively. They felt like they were being watched even though there was nobody around to watch them.

“You're not ditching me _now_, are you Byers?”

“No I still wanna do this.” Will replied after a few seconds of thought.

Upon reaching the door, the two of them stared at it for a moment before Max pulled out a bolt cutter from her bag.

“_That's_ what you had to get from your house on the way here?!” Will exclaimed.

“Yeah, how else were we gonna break in? You didn't really think the door would just be open.”

Max lifted the bolt cutter to the chain that firmly kept the door locked and, with a lot of strength and effort, she cut the chain.  
Then Max unravelled the chain from the door and dropped it onto the floor.

She turned to Will and whispered. “You ready?”

He nodded.

Together, they pulled the doors open.  
The interior was completely dark. Will and Max struggled to see what was housed within. Max silently opened up her bag again with trembling hands and pulled out a small flashlight. She flicked it on but it did very little to help them see.

“Know which way?” she asked.

“No.” a lump formed in his throat as memories returned to him.  
Memories of somebody that wasn't really _him_, yet he remembered them clearly all the same.

“What?!” Max hissed.

“I was asleep for most of my time here!” he explained. “I never actually went to the gate anyway, I stayed with Mike, my mom and... and Bob.”

Max didn't respond. Everybody knew that Will felt guilty and responsible for Bob's death even though none of it was his fault at all. Everybody assured him that none of what happened was his fault but it was clear he still blamed himself.  
It was a topic everyone now avoided.  
She turned her attention back to the lab, a feeling of dread and horror creeping up on her.

“Okay then.” she breathed. “Let's just a pick a direction and hope it leads somewhere.”

“Well, since the air in the Upside-Down is toxic, surely they'd have to have some warning sign or something to tell people that they're entering a dangerous area.” Will pointed out.

“Right.” Max agreed, moving the light over every corner of the room they stood infront of.

Content that the room was empty, she took a step forward. Panic gripped her instantly but she tried to keep calm. Will crept past her.  
His silhouette took small steps into the darkness, looking around as he shivered, his hands trembling like hers. He couldn't seem to keep still and Max could understand why- ever since they opened the doors of the lab a crushing sense of _wrong_ seemed to emanate from within. They both felt uneasy.

Max tightly clenched her flashlight. “We should keep going.”

Will didn't respond but followed Max when she led them down a hallway.  
Empty, it was all empty. An eerie silence lay throughout the entire building.

Will couldn't shake the memories. Even though he wasn't there, he remembered seeing the demodogs pounce from soldier to soldier in the tunnels beneath their feet. He remembered seeing Mike try to break past the guards at their door, shouting about how it was a trap. He remembered that, no matter how hard he tried or how desperately he wanted it to end, Will couldn't stop himself from drawing the demodogs to them, endangering everyone including his loved ones. Mike could've died that day, all because of him.  
Will remembered it all and it was ripping him apart.

“How are you feeling?” Max murmured so quietly she wasn't sure if Will could've heard her.

“I...” he whimpered.

She turned to face him; he was crying silently but hysterically. Max's face softened as she saw the look in his eyes. Sadness, terror, guilt.  
She embraced him. He hugged her back a little but quickly pulled away from her.

“It was my fault, Max...” he cried.

“No. It wasn't. _Nothing_ was your fault. You were being controlled-”

“But I was still there...” he sniffed. “Bob died because of me. You, Mike, you all could've died too!”

“It wasn't your fault, Will, there's nothing you could've done. Nobody blames you. Besides if it wasn't for you we wouldn't have known to close the gate. You saved us.”

Will didn't respond. He stood against the wall and continued to cry. Max stood silently beside him, hoping she'd comforted him somewhat.

“If you want to leave then we can-”

“No!” Will interrupted. “I have to be sure.”

“Okay, but please tell me if it gets too much.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Stay close to me.” she told him. Max took one last look him then continued creeping further into the dark.

After several minutes and lots of silent creeping, they'd found a staircase at the end of one of the corridors. Will had stopped crying although he didn't feel any better.  
Max peeked her head through the doorway and searched around with her torch.

“Up or down?” she questioned.

“Down.” Will whispered.

Max carefully stepped down the staircase ensuring that she wouldn't trip and fall. Will was directly behind her, following her movements exactly.

Max and Will finally found themselves in another corridor a few floors down from the entrance. She flicked her torchlight around to check if, like the others, this corridor was also empty.  
Thankfully, it was.  
The air was heavy and weighing down on them. Max felt even more panicked which caused her to worry about Will.

“Can we please get this over with?” he muttered.

“Sorry.” she forced herself to move into the hallway, walking faster and faster so that they could leave as soon as possible.  
Eventually her flashlight landed on a door that had a “danger” sign on it.  
She walked over to it. Will ran to catch up with her. Max placed her hand on the door handle then looked at Will.  
He was staring at her fearfully.  
“Do it.” he said through bated breath.

Max twisted her wrist and flung the door open, immediately shining her flashlight to illuminate the contents of the room.  
Infront of them was a desk of buttons and small screens and other machinery. Chairs lay on their sides around it.  
Further into the room and to their right was a wall of shattered windows that overlooked a lift of some kind. Shards of glass littered the floor.  
Will's neck tingled upon gazing through the broken windows.

“This is it.” he said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” he answered quickly.

They cautiously proceeded into the room. Max aimed the beam of light through the jagged holes in the windows to see a large, looming wall beyond the lift that led down into a dark abyss.

“I don't see anything.” Max stated with a hint of hope.

“I... don't feel him.” Will admitted confusedly. “But I just _know_ that this is where the gate is, or was.” Will continued staring, studying every intricate detail that Max's moving beam of light revealed. “There's nothing here.”

“No, there's not.” Max agreed. Her breathing was still fast and shallow, though.

“Then Mike was right, he can't be back.” A bit of relief flowed through them both.

Despite the relieving discovery, Max was becoming increasingly aware of just how _dark_ it was, how far into the lab they were and how vulnerable they were.

“Let's get out of here.” she said, louder than she meant to as her anxiety spiked and her heart skipped a beat, breath catching in her throat as a terrible shiver crept down her spine.

Will instantly turned away and made his way to the door. He waited for Max so that she could lead with her flashlight.  
She stepped through the doorway and silently closed the door behind them. Her and Will speedily walked to the staircase until she stopped herself.  
Will stepped onto the staircase then turned to her.

“Max come on!” he whispered desperately.

Her heart pounded as if it were trying to burst out of her chest. Her palms were sweating.  
That feeling of being watched suddenly strengthened, causing her to feel lightheaded and in danger. Something was wrong.

She spun around, snapping her flashlight up to shine the light down the corridor. Her heart stopped. Tears stung the back of her eyes.  
In the corner of the light was a shadow. Her eyes darted over to it and stared, just for a few seconds but long enough to see what looked like a leg stood upright by the end of the corridor.  
Max turned and ran.

She grabbed Will's wrist upon passing him but didn't stop; she charged up the stairs, dragging him with her.  
Then the toe of her shoe caught on the bottom of the next step and she fell. The flashlight slipped out of her hands and loudly clattered down the stairwell. She cried out.  
Suddenly Max felt hands grab her shoulder and help her back to her feet.

“Are you okay? What's wrong?” Will asked, panic seeping into his voice as she heard his quick breaths.

“I saw something down there, Will, we have to leave _right now_.” she told him with a shaky voice, her arms trembling beneath his hands.

He didn't say anything but immediately started sprinting through the darkness with her. Max kept her hand around his wrist to catch him if he tripped or for him to steady her if she did.  
Fortunately they weren't far from the ground floor and reached the first corridor within the next few seconds.

Neither of them stopped or slowed- they continued dashing through the darkness. Max somehow recalled the directions in which they'd travelled to find the staircase so she led Will down each corridor. It was silent aside from the thumping of their feet on the floor, but even so they didn't dare stop and look back.  
Max slid around a corner to see dim light flooding in through the open doors of the entrance. Her eyes lit up.

“Hurry!” she yelled and continued speeding to the door.

Max skidded to halt once outside and turned back to the doors as Will leapt out from the lab. They both urgently slammed the doors shut.

Once they reached their bikes, they finally stopped to regain their breath.

“So you saw something?” Will queried.

“I'm certain.” Max panted. “A shadow of something.”

Will's heart stopped. “Sh-shadow?”

“In the corner of the light at the end of the hallway, it... it almost looked like a leg? I don't know.” she stated, thinking back. “But it was only for a second, could've been nothing.”

Will and Max mounted their bikes and began hurriedly cycling away from the lab.

“We need to tell Mike.” Max said.

“Yeah, okay.”

Will completely agreed with her, however he was still anxious to see Mike after their argument.  
Maybe they should also bring it up to everyone else, including El.  
Tomorrow night was the sleepover, and Will couldn't think of a better time to tell everyone, if not before then.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Will inform Mike of what they found, giving Mike and Will a chance to make up.

Rain began pouring down from the looming grey clouds hovering above as Max and Will pulled into Mike's driveway.  
Will rung the doorbell, hair dripping water into his face. Their drenched clothes stuck to their skin. With no response after a few seconds of uncomfortable waiting, Max started pounding her hand on the door.  
It opened revealing Mike stood in the doorway. He gasped and his eyes widened.

“Will! You're okay!” Mike beamed, extending his arms to hug his boyfriend when he noticed that he was soaking wet. “Crap, sorry, both of you come in.”

He stepped to the side to allow them entry so they both quickly walked in. Mike shut the door behind them.

“Where have you both been?”

“We need to talk, in the basement.” Max stated, eyeing his parents who were preparing food in the kitchen.

“Why?”

“Mike, we _really_ need to talk in private.” Will spoke seriously.

He frowned at them. “Okay.”

The three of them hurriedly rushed into Mike's basement. Will was the last person in so he closed and locked the door behind him.  
Mike turned to him upon hearing the lock click.

“Did you _lock it?_”

“Yes!” Will hissed then ran down to join them.

“Where were you both?” he questioned.

“Well, Mike, you remember our conversation about the Mind Flayer this morning? Well I just really wanted to be sure that you were right so-”

“So!” Max interrupted impatiently. “We skipped classes and broke into the lab to see if the gate was closed.”

“Max!” Will gasped, shocked at her bluntness even though it ultimately made no difference.

“What?!” Mike blurted out. “What if something happened?! You could've been in danger!”

“We weren't in danger.” Max groaned.

“You were right, the gate is closed, definitely.” Will explained.

“So nothing to worry about.” Mike smiled.

“I saw something though.” Max continued. “Some kind of shadow of something, I don't know, it looked like a leg? Not a human one but like an animal leg.”

“We both ran out as fast as we could just in case it actually was something.”

“Why didn't you guys tell me about any of this?” Mike asked.

“Because I was feeling bad about our argument.” Will sighed.  
Max's eyes darted between Mike and Will who were staring at eachother thoughtfully.  
“I'll give you two a minute.” Max declared as she strolled into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

“I was _really_ worried about you.”

“I'm sorry, Mike but I knew you'd be against the idea! I had to do it, I had to be certain.”

“And are you?”

“Yes, the gate is closed. I don't know what it was that I felt yesterday but it wasn't him.”

“Then there's nothing for you to be scared of anymore.”

Mike took a few steps towards him until he was stood just a few inches away from Will. He lifted a hand to gently brush the wet strands of hair from Will's face. His other hand joined with Will's by their sides.

“You're really cold.” Mike said, concerned.

“Oh, sorry.” Will apologised.

“It's okay.” He broke away from Will only to grab a blanket and pass it to him.

“Thanks.” Will smiled as he wrapped it around himself.

He shivered but welcomed the warmth with pleasure even if it wouldn't last long.

“Sooo we're okay?” Will asked nervously.

“Of course, Byers.” Mike smirked.

“Glad to hear, Wheeler.” Will beamed.

“Wanna sleep over here tonight?”

“I can't.” Will sighed. “I promised my mom and Jonathan I'd spend the night with them.”

“Awww.” Mike complained.

Will laughed. “You're gonna see me tomorrow Mike! And don't forget the big sleepover is tomorrow at mine after school.”

“How could I forget? I'm looking forward to it.”

“I should probably get going.” Will sighed again.

He walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. “Max we should go.”  
The door swung open and she stepped out, hair messy.

“Wait!” Mike said as they were halfway up the basement stairs.

Max and Will followed him across the room with their eyes. He dug through a pile of clothes until he came across two raincoats. A smile worn across his face, Mike carried them over then passed them up to Max and Will. “For the bike ride home.”

“Thanks.” Without another word Max walked past Will up the stairs, unlocked the basement door then left

Will grinned at Mike. “Thanks Mike, see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow!”

And with that, Will left too, leaving Mike alone with his thoughts of happiness and relief.  
Relief that the Mind Flayer was gone for good, and happiness at how lucky he was to have Will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shorter chapter today! There wasn't really much I could've written about in this chapter tbh  
Next chapter is quite long though!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sleepover begins and Will and Mike go to Castle Byers to talk but then encounter something...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EARLY UPLOAD  
Hey sorry for the early upload but I'm gonna be busy for the probably all of tomorrow so I likely wouldn't be able to update this! So I'm updating it now  
Chapter 6 is still gonna be on Tuesday <3

All of a sudden, Mike was awoken by the startling sound of static right beside his ear soon followed by a voice that made his heart throb. He untangled his arm from his blanket, grabbed his walkie and held it to his ear.

“Mike, are you awake? Over.”

“I am now.” he said groggily. “Over.”

“Did I wake you? I'm sorry.”

“It's okay! Don't apologise. I would've had to wake up soon anyway.”

“Are you excited for tonight? Over.”

“Of course!” Mike beamed, feeling more awake and energetic. “It's gonna be so much fun. Over,”

He heard Will laugh, lighting up Mike's face with a smile.

“I need to get ready and eat breakfast so I'll see you at school! Over and out.”

Pure joy threatening to burst out of him, Mike placed his walkie back down on his bedside table then skipped out of his room to also partake in a delicious bowl of cereal.

Mike cycled through the school gates, eyes scanning the crowds of arriving students for any of his friends until his gaze landed on Will and Max who were both parking their bikes. He sped up to meet with them.

“Hey guys.” Mike greeted as he dismounted his bike.

“Where the hell have you two been?” Dustin questioned, appearing with his bike beside Mike.

“Nowhere interesting.” Max replied instantly.

Dustin's eyes darted between Max and Will until his eyes lit up and he perked his eyebrows.

“You both ran off somewhere, _together?_” he smirked.

“Eww Dustin!” Will exclaimed.

“No!” Max glared.

“Uh huh.” Dustin continued grinning.

Will glanced over at Mike with a look in his eyes that screamed _help!_  
Mike simply shrugged. As he lifted his bag onto his shoulder, the bell rang, causing an argument between Max and Dustin to abruptly end.

“Once again saved by the bell.” Mike smiled before strolling past Max and Dustin with Will close behind him.

And at last, it was the end of school. Full of excitement for the sleepover and relief that the day had ended, the Party hurried out of their classes and met up at their bike rack. They then all cycled to Will's house together.

Will, Mike, Max, Lucas and Dustin were warmly welcomed into the house by Joyce when they arrived as she was leaving for work.  
Not long after, El was dropped off by Hopper before he was called to do some kind of police work.  
Mike lifted himself from his seat on the sofa beside Will and strolled over to the front door to see El slowly stepping in and looking around. Her eyes landed on him, causing her to smile brightly.

“Mike!” she beamed.

“El!” he grinned.

Mike led El into the living room where everybody else was currently sat around watching a film.

“Hey El!” several of them greeted, turning to face her.

She smiled and waved at them, unsure of where to sit after surveying the room.  
Mike walked back to his seat. “Come on, you can sit next to me and Will.”  
El complied, walking over to sit beside Mike on the couch.

“What's this?” she asked, perplexed.

“A really bad movie.” Max said candidly.

“That's so true.” Lucas agreed.

“Hey! I like this film.” Dustin complained.

“But it's so bad!” Lucas laughed.

“Will what do you think of it?” he asked unexpectedly turning to face Will.

“Well I don't think it's amazing...” he responded, “but it isn't awful.”

“Well I still think it's crap.” Max shrugged to herself.

“It is not!” Dustin disagreed.

A loud scream erupted from the TV which made El jump. Her eyes met Mike's and they chuckled.

“Did you see that?” Max pointed at the screen. “That acting was just dreadful.”

“And what would _you_ know about acting exactly?” he queried.

“Oh come on Dustin, anybody can identify awful acting.”

The remaining 40 minutes of the film were spent with everyone (but Dustin) watching with disinterest aside from when, every now and then, Max would point out another detail of the film which she thought was “stupid” or that “didn't make sense” which Dustin immediately argued with to try and defend its pride.  
However, once the film had finished, Max had pretty much convinced anybody who wasn't already convinced that the film was crap which Dustin was solemn about for a short while.

Next everybody decided to play some music in the background as they ate some snacks.

“What exactly are our plans for the Snow Ball?” Lucas asked between bites of his sandwich.

“There are none.” Mike replied bluntly.

Him and Will still _really_ didn't want to go because it'd be only super awkward for the both of them. Either Lucas or Dustin would probably dance with Max and Mike would most likely have to dance with El to avoid being accused of “acting weird”. And Will? He'd probably either have to sit alone or find some other girl to dance with.  
Neither of them wanted to deal with that.

“Oh come on Mike.” Dustin complained.

Mike rolled his eyes. “You guys can go if you want, I just don't want to.”

“I don't either, really.” Will added in.

“But Mike.” El turned to him, confused. “You said you wanted to go to the Snow Ball together?”

“I'm sorry El, I...” he tried to find the right words so that he could tell he didn't want to without it sounding like _sorry I don't like you that way anymore._  
Which was true, he didn't anymore, but he obviously didn't want any of them to catch onto that.  
“I just don't think I wanna go this year.” was the best he could come up with.

“Why?” she asked further.

“Should we all do something?” Max abruptly interrupted.  
Her gaze met Mike's- she was trying to move the conversation away from them since it could lead to Mike and Will's relationship which they all wanted to avoid talking about.

“Uhh we could play a board game.” Lucas suggested.

“What board game?” El asked.

“Let's go look at our options.” Dustin smiled then strolled into Will's room.

El, Lucas and Max soon followed him in and Mike was about to follow them when he noticed that Will was oblivious to what was happening and was just staring blankly into space.  
Glancing up to ensure the room was empty, Mike placed a hand on top of Will's.  
“Are you okay Will?”

“Yeah.” he replied absent-minded.

Mike frowned. “Are you sure? You seem... distracted.”

Will suddenly turned to face him. “Do you think that we should, you know...” he trailed off.

Mike raised his eyebrows at him in question.

Will leaned in closer, making Mike even more confused. “Come out to everyone.”

“Oh.” Mike began thinking deeply about it when Dustin reemerged from Will's room with a stack of board games in his arms.

“We found some to choose from!” he stated after setting them down on the table.

Max, El and Lucas appeared then too, also carrying stacks of board games. They dropped theirs onto the table then started filtering through them.

Certain that none of them were paying any attention to Mike and Will, he leaned back in towards Will and whispered, “We can't talk about this now.”

“But Mike! It's important.” Will muttered back into his ear.

“Okay,” Mike sighed, “just wait one second.”

Mike stood up from his seat. “Uhm guys? Will and I are just gonna quickly go to Castle Byers to...” he trailed off, not knowing what to say as an excuse that'll mask their true reasoning with as little suspicion as possible.  
But Mike had a feeling that just trailing off right then and there already aroused their suspicion. By a lot.

“So that we can grab something that I left there by accident and bring it back.” Will finished for him with a forced but convincing smile.

“Want us to come too?” El inquired softly.

“No!” Mike snapped, making El recoil. “We won't be staying out there long so you all may as well stay here!”

They all nodded slowly in response.

“See you soon.” Mike smiled again before swiftly striding to the door, opening it and stepping out into the night. Will followed but then stopped at the door.  
He turned and searched around until he spotted his walkie.

“I'll take this in case you need to talk to us while we're gone.” Will stated, picking it up then hurriedly walking out of the house after Mike.

Dustin, Lucas, El and Max continued staring at the door they'd just exited out of.

“That was weird. They're acting weird.” said Dustin.

“Yeah, again!” Lucas added.

“Again?” El questioned.

“Yeah, they've been acting really strange recently.” Lucas explained.

El looked thoughtful which, combined with Lucas and Dustin being caught up on their _strange behaviour_, worried Max a lot.  
She didn't know how Mike and Will would react if the rest of the Party somehow discovered that they were dating, and she honestly didn't know how they'd react to finding out either.

“Max do you know why they're being weird?” Dustin queried.

“No, why would I?”

“Uhh maybe because you and Will skipped school together yesterday?” Dustin pointed out.

“Yeah so?” Max asked.

“Where did you both go anyway?” Lucas cut in.

“It's...” she stopped herself, thinking whether or not she should tell them. “It's not important.”

Will and Mike ran through the woods until they reached Castle Byers. The enveloping darkness had them on edge but they tried their best to ignore it and focus on their important topic of conversation.  
Will crawled into his hideout closely followed by Mike who just managed to squeeze in and take a seat beside Will.

There was silence for a moment- Mike wondered if Will was going to start but after a short while of awkward silence Mike did.

“So you wanna come out to Lucas, Dustin and El? And tell them that we're dating?”

Will blushed when he heard the word_dating_. That's what him and Mike were, they were dating and had been for a couple weeks, but it still made him blush regardless.

“I do but I'm scared how they'll react. It'd be so much better if we could be open around them! We wouldn't have to constantly hide or keep secrets.”

I'm sure they'd be fine with it.” Mike said happily. “It may take them some adjusting but they'd accept it. I'm certain.” That last words was lie but Mike was mostly sure they'd be accepting.

“So... you're ready?” Will asked him.

Mike's heart skipped a beat as the reality of what Will was asking hit him. If they did this then there was no going back, no matter what the outcome.  
It could be perfectly fine or it could be an awful mess.

Mike nodded. “Yeah. You wanna do it?”

Will stopped and thought for a moment too, probably thinking the same as Mike was.  
“Yeah.” he said finally.

The two boys held eachother in a tight embrace, Will nuzzling into Mike's shoulder as Mike soothingly rubbed circles into his boyfriend's back.  
Suddenly, a strangled squawk echoed around the woods. Startled, they both tore away from eachother, wide-eyed and heart racing.

“Did you hear that?” Will muttered through baited breath.

Mike nodded wordlessly. Slowly, he reached his arm towards the entrance to Castle Byers.  
But Will grabbed his wrist and pulled it back.

“What are you doing?!” he whispered.

“Taking a look.” Mike replied fearfully.

He freed his wrist from Will's grip and continued. Will shuffled closer to him.  
Mike peeked his head out of the hideout and darted his eyes around.  
Dark. It was just dark, obstructing his view.  
It was eerily silent now. A cold breeze whistled through air, brushing against Mike's face, making him shiver.

He pulled back into the tent and turned to Will.  
“I think we're oka-”

He was cut off by another strangled screech, this one louder and longer.  
Mike and Will were frozen, staring at eachother. Then they heard the sound of wings flapping overhead.  
Their hearts raced. Mike quickly but quietly reached for his walkie.

“Hello, is anyone there? Over.” he whispered into it, eyes still on Will who looked pale and terrified. “Does anybody copy? Over.”

He waited for a reply for a few suspenseful seconds, tension rising drastically.

“Mike, is that you? Over.” Lucas spoke loudly from the walkie.

Mike and Will gasped as he rapidly turned down the volume. They listened out for anymore sounds but thankfully couldn't hear any.

“Yeah this is Mike. We're trapped in Castle Byers and need urgent assistance. Over.”

“Trapped? What do you mean? Over.”

“By birds!” Mike hissed.

A few seconds passed. “What?” Lucas said, bewildered.

Of course, nobody ever told them!

“Lucas, tell Max, she'll explain. We'll try to get back but please come and find us. Over and out.”

“I don't hear anything.” Will murmured.

Mike nodded. “Okay. You and I are gonna crawl out of here and then run as fast as we can back to your house.”

“Mike we can barely see anything! We wouldn't see them, what if they follow?” he mentioned worriedly.

“We have to get out of here.” Mike whispered in response.

He grabbed Will's hand, firmly locking their fingers together.

“One. Two.” Mike glanced at Will who was shaking and breathing rapidly.  
“Three.”

The two of them almost rolled out of Castle Byers, jumped to their feet, turned around in the direction of Will's house and immediately began sprinting through the winter darkness.  
Their hands remained securely clamped together as they ran, leaping over tree roots that they could very faintly see.  
A distant squawk sounded from somewhere above them. Mike and Will briefly glanced up, still running, just to see grey clouds shielding the treetops from the blinding moonlight.  
All of a sudden, something large and black as the night swiftly soared through the canopy then dove down towards Will. He lowered his head to look back at the path infront of him when he saw it flying towards him in his peripheral vision before it powerfully collided with the side of his head. Will collapsed heavily onto the floor, hand being ripped from Mike's by the abrupt fall.  
Mike immediately stopped and changed direction to sprint over to him.

“Will!” Mike crouched down beside him. He gently touched the side of Will's head with his fingers and felt blood. “Shit. Will, Will can you hear me?”

“Mike...” Will breathed. Slowly he raised a hand and held his head, gritting his teeth.

Then there was another squawk, reminding Mike of the danger that soared through the treetops. He hurriedly hooked his arm around Will's torso then pulled him up.  
He hissed as a jolt of pain struck his head. Will felt dizzy and lightheaded.

Two more squawks simultaneously drifted through the bitter winter air.

“Can you run?” Mike asked worriedly.

“I think so.” Will whispered.

Mike nodded then promptly continued sprinting through the woods with Will hugged close to his side.

About a minute passed of them silently running. They were still in the woods but the birds seemed to have disappeared.

“Mike can we stop for a moment?” Will requested.

Mike slowed to a stop. He held Will's hand then led him over to a rock that he gratefully sat on.  
They both scanned the area to be safe. Content that they were away from the birds, Mike sat beside Will and checked his injury. It was dark so he couldn't see too well however he could just make out a patch of blood on the side of Will's head just up from Will's ear.

“How are you feeling?” Mike inquired, concerned.

“My head doesn't hurt as bad but it still aches a bit.” Will continued to dart his eyes around. “And I'm terrified.”

“Me too.” Mike admitted shamelessly. He brushed Will's arm with his hand before pushing himself off of the rock and back onto his feet.

“We should head back.” Mike said urgently.

Before Will had the chance to reply, something large and black dropped from the sky and hit the floor with a loud thump. Mike and Will gasped and held their breath, staring at it.  
It was a bird but it was lying still on the floor.

“It's just like the cat.” Mike stated, puzzled.

Then suddenly two more birds plummeted from the clouds and lay there, motionless.  
Will's skin tingled. His hand shook as a shiver slithered down his body, filling him with a freezing cold.

“Mike, I feel him again.” Will breathed, panicking.

“The gate is closed, Will, remember? You saw for yourself.” Mike reminded him.

Will shook his head, tears trickling down his face. “No, Mike it's him. He's back.” he cried.

Simultaneously the motionless bodies of the birds began convulsing; their wings and legs spasmed disturbingly, heads frantically snapping from side to side.  
Mike lunged over, gripped Will's arm and pulled him away without hesitation. Revolted and petrified, they couldn't bring themselves to do anything but slowly back away, eyes glued to the scene transpiring before them.  
Then the birds abruptly stopped moving. Will and Mike froze too. Seconds of terrified silence passed before all three of the bodies ruptured.  
Mike and Will let out small screams. Dark blood poured from their mangled remains but what really caught their attention was the stuff rising out from within.  
A small cloud of black smoke ascended from each of the corpses, spiralling in the air before all merging together to gradually form one large shadow.  
Will was shaking uncontrollably. Mike, who was also shaking a lot, attempted to steady him but was unable to turn away.

“Will, is that?” Mike somehow managed to whisper, throat stinging.

“Y-yes.” Will whimpered.

Mike dropped into full panic. Without thinking, he began sprinting away as fast as he could, Will instantly by his side following him.  
He risked a glance over his shoulder to see something that made his blood turn to ice- it was chasing them.

“Faster!” Mike shouted.

Will cried out but somehow forced himself to run faster. Mike, desperately searching the woods around them, eventually spotted a large gathering of bushes that they could hide in.  
He tugged on Will's arm then swerved to the left, dashing towards the shrubbery. They both instantaneously dropped to their hands and knees and scrabbled inside. Will hugged his legs to his chest.

They both sat in undisturbed silence. Mike was skimming the area around them over and over again on the lookout for the Mind Flayer.  
The Mind Flayer, he really was back. But how? The gate was closed....

“Mike!” Will poked him to get his attention then pointed over to the other side of the bush; the Mind Flayer was right beside the bush they were hidden in.

Mike covered his mouth with his hand to muffle his rapid breathing. Will copied instantly.

Then the shadow was suddenly flung past the bush and into the depths of the forest. Mike and Will stared at eachother, puzzled, before they heard several pairs of footsteps not far from them.  
Their eyes glistened. Both boys crawled out from the bush and back to their feet before quickly looking around until their gazes landed on Max, Lucas and Dustin grouped tightly together behind El, blood dribbling from her nose.

“Mike! Will!” the group shouted together and ran over to them.

“Are you both okay?” Max questioned.

Will and Mike nodded. “We were chased but we're okay.” Mike explained.

“What was that?” Dustin asked, dreading the answer he might receive.

“The Mind Flayer.” Will responded.

Everybody turned to stare in the direction El had flung it to see, in the distance, a large shadowy cloud reforming.

“Go! Now!” Lucas called out.

All six of them began dashing away without a second delay.  
None of them dared look back- they just faultlessly ran through the darkening depths of the woods.

“Should we split up?” Max suggested.

“No! We need to stay together, El is the only person that can stop him.” Mike said.

Out of nowhere, they were all suddenly knocked off their feet. They screamed as they landed painfully on the floor.  
They each flipped themselves over onto their backs to see the ever-changing form of the Mind Flayer looming over them. His form wasn't massive but it was just large enough to obstruct their view of the woods behind it and tower over them all.  
Breathing heavily, El raised her hand and suspended the Mind Flayer midair as she climbed back onto her feet. Everybody else followed.

“Go.” El ordered.

“But El!” Mike cried.

“We'll stay with her, go!” Dustin demanded.

“No! We are not leaving without you!” Mike argued.

“_Go!_” the three of them yelled, El still holding the shadow infront of her with a shaking hand.

“Mike come on!” Max shouted, clasping his wrist and pulling him away. Will followed beside him.

The three of them had sprinted endlessly for two or three minutes. All sounds of the others had faded completely.  
Will, who was infront, stopped and frantically looked around. “I have no idea where we are!” he cried.

“Stay calm, we'll find our way home.” Max said comfortingly, stopping beside him.

Mike stopped running a few steps behind them. “What about the others?”

“They distracted it so we could escape! What if it's going after Will again?” Max asked.

“Why would it?” Will questioned. “He can use anybody as a host.”

“Any_thing_ apparently.”

“What do you mean?” Max asked.

“He was inside those birds that attacked us!” Mike proclaimed.

“What?! So it was inside that cat too?”

“Yes.” Will responded. “I felt the same thing just before he came out those birds as I did around the cat.”

“But the gate is closed, how can that be possible?” Max questioned.

“It shouldn't be!” Will exclaimed.

“But then...” Max trailed off, had moving to stare at Mike. “_Mike behind you!_” she screamed.

He turned but it was too late- the shadowy figure of the Mind Flayer rushed at him, heaving him into a tree nearby.

“Mike!” Will cried.

The Mind Flayer floated infront of his motionless body lying beside the tree.  
He then abruptly charged at Will. He froze, breath catching in his throat and heart stopping as the familiar terrifying feeling of cold and emptiness filled him.  
Suddenly Max pushed him over and out of the way but it left her open in Will's place. The Mind Flayer crashed into her, throwing her through the air before she slammed onto the ground. Will stared at her but she didn't get back up.  
Then Will realised that the Mind Flayer _was_ aiming for him. He jumped to his feet, turning to stare at the formless shadow before him. He was about to turn away and flee but it reacted faster; shadowy tendrils extended out from its centre and wrapped themselves around Will. Then they began flooding into his mouth soon followed by his ears and nose. His insides froze into what felt like ice. Flashbacks of that day on the field came back to him.  
It was happening again. The Mind Flayer was possessing him again.

A single tear trickled down his cheek but it froze and fell a tiny crystal of ice.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and Max wake up to find Will possessed and in desperate need of help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finished writing the final chapter of this earlier today and decided that I may as well do daily updates since the main reason I did every other day was so that I could finish chapters.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! <3

He blinked his eyes open. His head throbbed agonisingly, head laid uncomfortably on the damp dirty floor.  
Mike tried to push himself up but a sharp pain stabbed him as he moved his arms- they fell limp, causing him to collapse again.

“Will?” he choked. “Will? Max?” he called out louder, breaking the icy silence.

Somewhere around him he heard shuffling. Mike panicked. What if the Mind Flayer was still here?  
He held his breath as he looked around but his vision was blurred.  
Footsteps. Now desperate, Mike painfully pushed himself up onto his knees. He knew for certain he wouldn't be able to stand so he leaned against the tree beside him for balance.

“Mike!”

He gasped and flinched at the sudden sound. Walking towards him from his left was Max.

“Holy shit, are you okay?” she asked urgently. Max wasn't looking good herself; she was limping, bloody scratches and bruises lining her arms.

He nodded but instantly forced himself to stop as a jolt of pain struck the back of his head. He hissed.

“I'll help you up.” Max offered him her hand which he gladly took. She pulled him up. Mike had to continue leaning on the tree for him to actually stand up but he eventually did.  
He wobbled, head spinning but held Max's hand firmly to keep him up.

“What happened? Where's Will?” he questioned.

“I don't know.” she cried, eyes watering. “It went for Will so I pushed him out the way but it knocked me unconscious., I don't know where he is or what happened!”

“Will!” Mike yelled.

“Will! Can you hear us?” Max shouted as well, darting her eyes around the woods. It was even darker now.

A twig snapped. Max and Mike swung their heads around to face the sound.  
Will stood not far from them, arm gripping a tree branch for support.

“Will!” Mike cried, running over and hugging him.  
Mike's heart sunk. He was _freezing_. He was shaking too, breathing shallow and body stiff.  
“What's wrong?” Mike asked him, a lump forming in his throat.

“He got me.” Will said coldly, still shivering in Mike's arms.

Mike was speechless. He tore himself away from Will and stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“He's _inside_ me again, Mike.” he paused. “But it feels... different.”

“How so?” Max chimed in worriedly.

“I don't know...” Will stared at the floor. “I can't feel _him_.”

Max and Mike were beyond confused and terrified at this point.

“I just feel cold and... wrong, but I don't actually feel him. I'm not sure wh-” he gasped loudly, eyes widening.

Dozens of visions flashed before his eyes in a matter of seconds: red lightning forking through the sky; the vines burning in a tempest of flames; a horde of demodogs emerging from the drop below the elevator in the laboratory; the gate sealing itself shut.  
And then one final scene that he recognised from his nightmares. Will and Mike sprinting from Will's bedroom into the Upside-Down immediately followed by Will riding alone on his bike, shadowy tendrils snaking out from the woods either side of him...

Mike placed his hands on Will's shoulders. “Will! Will are you okay?!”

Will was thrown back to reality. The sudden switch between his nightmare and reality, Mike standing before him with Max just behind, was jarring. He hurriedly turned his head away from them and to the side, coughed a few times then looked back.

“Will?”

Then sudden knowledge appeared in Will's head the same away his now memories used to in previously.  
_What._

“I think...” Will stopped himself, thinking about this new knowledge with bewilderment and dread. None of it made sense. “I think _I_ let the Mind Flayer back.”

Max and Mike, once again speechless from Will's words, kept silent so he continued.  
“I don't know how but I think opened another gate.”

“No...” Mike shook his head. “But how could you have opened a gate?”

“I don't know!” Will cried, the realisation of what this meant fully hitting him.

Then an overpowering wave of fatigue washed over him. Will desperately struggled to keep his eyes open as they tried to close of their own accord. His legs weakened drastically. Failing to hold him up, Will fell backwards.  
Mike immediately outstretched his arms again and caught Will before he hit anything. He shook him.

“Hey stay awake.” Mike spoke, voice breaking.

Max ran to his side. “What's happening?!”

“So... tired...” Will muttered. Even speaking proved to require more energy than Will currently had.

Another piece of knowledge suddenly forced itself into Will's mind.  
It made Will's attempts to stay awake become increasingly more desperate.

“Mike! You have to...” his voice gave out momentarily. “Keep me awake...” he finally managed to speak but this time in an exhausted whisper.

His body fell limp in Mike's arms but his breathing was fast, panicked. They definitely didn't have time to discuss what Will had just learnt.

“It's gotta be the Mind Flayer.” Mike stated. “Max help me carry him!” he demanded.

Max did as he asked. She slung his left arm over her shoulders. Mike did the same with his right arms and together they lifted him to his feet. Will's head bobbed up and down as hiss body lost its strength but he tirelessly compelled himself to remain conscious although it rapidly drained him.  
He didn't know how long he'd be able to keep himself awake for.  
He split his focus between walking and fighting the overwhelming urge to fall asleep hoping that it would be enough to distract him.

“We need to burn it out of him again.” Mike told max as they started strenuously and swiftly carrying Will through the woods.

“Like last time.”

Mike nodded. “But in order to do that we need to get back to Will's house.”

“I think it's this way.” Max replied.

What felt like five minutes had passed although nobody really knew how long it'd been, or the current time.  
Mike and Max had spotted Castle Byers so they were now following the path back to Will's house from there. However they didn't see any sign of Lucas, Dustin or El which had them worried.  
Will was still struggling although he'd successfully managed to prevent himself from succumbing to the exhaustion and falling into a deep, nightmare-filled slumber. Max kept her eyes on the treetops above on the lookout for any birds that might attack them but she'd seen nothing.  
Everything was quiet. However, that left the two of them with the terribly disturbing thought that the large shadow of the Mind Flayer which had chased them was _inside_ of Will. Right in between both of them.  
Then Mike remembered the repulsive sight of the birds' bodies being brutally ripped open when the Mind Flayer was inside them.  
Now it was inside Will...

The image of the Mind Flayer bursting out of Will's body threatened to make Mike stop and vomit. But he couldn't- they had to get it out of Will as soon as possible to prevent the possibility of that happening.

The three of them finally found themselves at Will's house. Mike and Max let out a relieved sigh but didn't stop. Will was still in danger. In fact, they all were.  
Mike opened the door then side-stepped through the doorway, careful not to let Max or Will bump into anything. Max kicked the door closed behind her.

“Hello?” she called out into the house.

Nothing. The other three were still missing.  
Max scurried over to her walkie located on the table amongst several board games. One of the boxes was open and a board was laid out on the floor. She was about to speak into it when she remembered none of them had brought their walkies out with them.

“Damn it!” she shouted and threw it to the side.

“Max there's no time, we have to burn the Mind Flayer out of Will.” Mike told her

“Right, sorry. How are we gonna do this?”

Mike gently lowered Will down onto the floor beside the cooker. He opened it.

“Turn it up all the way.” he said before sprinting into Will's bedroom.

Max complied. Mike then returned with a large pile of blankets.

“Are you sure this is enough?” Max asked, concerned.

“I think so.”

Mike draped each the blankets over Will's limp body. Will's eyes were barely still open. He ensured Will's body, excluding his neck and head, were completely covered by the blankets.

“Okay, I hope this works.” Mike panted.

Will turned his head to face Mike.

“I'm here, Will.” Mike placed his hands over Will's, the blankets being the only things separating them.

Suddenly Will's tired expression became a pained one. He clamped his eyes shut. He groaned between gritted teeth. Dark veins were already spreading up Will's neck.

“Mike!” he screamed from excruciating pain once they reached his head.

Tears fell from Mike's eyes. He was thankful it was working but it hurt him that Will was suffering like this. Max crouched down on the other side of him, fearfully watching through watery eyes in silence.  
Will clenched his fists shut from the agony. Mike noticed blood trickle down his palm from where his nails dug into his skin.

“It's almost out of him!” Max shouted suddenly.

A harrowing scream escaped Will's mouth. Tears and sweat soaked his face and neck. Through his mouth open in a now-silent scream, black smoke ascended into the air in one long, violently swirling line. This continued for a few seconds until Will was completely freed of the Mind Flayer. Max and Mike stared up at it floating by the ceiling. It abruptly flung itself through the window, shattering it, and escaped into the night. Shards of glass rained down over them, bouncing off the kitchen counter behind them. Mike and Max leaned forward to avoid most of the impact, Mike shielding Will with a blanket. Max urgently switched off the oven before falling back and slumping against the wall exhausted.  
Will rolled over and buried his face into Mike's arms. He cried fiercely and endlessly. Mike placed one of his hands onto Will's head then stroked his hair softly, using the other arm to pull his boyfriend closer into a loving embrace.

“You're okay, it's over.” Mike murmured into his ear.

Will continued to weep so Mike continued to silently comfort him. Max glanced at them, a smile forming on her face until she noticed the bloody wound on the side of Will's head.

“Was that from the Mind Flayer?” she asked, nodding at it.

“No, a bird flew into him before they... yeah.” Mike explained.

Max climbed back up to her feet, steadied herself against the wall, then slowly made her way into the bathroom. A few moments later, she emerged with a wet cloth.

“This might sting a bit.” she warned Will, crouching down beside him and gently cleaning the blood from his face.

He flinched a few times but Mike held onto him. Pleasant warmth emanated from Mike's body making Will sleepy. He yawned, accompanied by the memory of his powers.  
He still had to tell them.  
Will regretfully pulled himself away from Mike and sat up against the wall.

“There's something I need to tell you, about why he was trying to make me sleep.” Will sniffed.

“What is it?” Max urged him to continue.

“I somehow opened a gate somewhere.” Will reminded them. They nodded. “I did it in my sleep...Every time I had a nightmare I opened the new gate just a tiny bit more.” he stated confusedly but with certainty.

“But how are you even able to open a gate in the first place?” Mike questioned.

“I don't know...” Tears suddenly flowed down his face again. “This is all my fault, I'm so sorry...”

“No, Will you have nothing to apologise for. Whatever is happening isn't your fault.” Mike assured him, crawling over and wrapping his arms around him again.

Will fell against his chest. Mike held him closer. “Stop blaming yourself.” Mike muttered into his ear.

The front door swung open.Their attention was instantaneously diverted to the door in a soundless panic.

Lucas and Dustin walked into the house, followed shortly after by El, blood dripping from her nose and eyes watering. The three of them gasped and froze upon seeing Mike, Max and Will.  
Mike nearly choked on his own breath upon realising Will was still in his arms. Clearly Will had as well since they both urgently scurried away from eachother. He noticed their eyes follow them as they did.

“You're okay!” Dustin beamed.

Expressions of sheer relief replaced their fearful ones. Lucas and Dustin ran over to sit with Max and a blushing Will as El slowly stepped towards Mike.  
He looked up at her, smiling brightly.

“Are you okay?” Mike asked her.

She nodded. “It escaped.” she said.

“We know, it found us.” Mike told her.

Her eyes widened. “But...”

“We're all okay, well, we are now.” Mike assured her, glancing at Will to see him in conversation with the others. “But we all need to talk.”

The six of them were seated around the table that held all the board games.

“So the Mind Flayer is back.” Lucas spoke.

“Yes, and he's after Will.” Mike stated.

“Why?” Everybody turned to face Will and Mike who were sat alone together.

Will thought for a second before giving his answer. “While the Mind Flayer was inside me again-”

“_Again?_” Dustin exclaimed.

“Yes, again.” Max chimed in. “We burnt it out of him though. It's gone.” she glanced at the shattered window.

“Continue.” Lucas pressed.

“While I was being possessed, he tried to make me fall asleep.” Will received bewildered looks from El, Lucas and Dustin. “But during that I just _knew_ things, kinda like last time, and I found out that I'm somehow responsible for opening a second gate.”

“So, wait a minute... _you_ have superpowers?” Dustin inquired.

Will frowned. “I don't really know. I can't do what El can.”

“So where is this gate?” Lucas questioned.

“We don't know.” Mike responded. “But it's gotta be somewhere close by.”

“What about the woods?” Max suggested. “That's where the birds and cat were.”

“_Cat?_ What's cat?” El asked.

“It's an animal, specifically a carnivorous mammal which some people keep as house pets.” Dustin explained to her.

“R-right.” she nodded slowly.

“Anyway!” Max interrupted them. “Surely it has to be somewhere in the woods.”

Everybody agreed.

“There's a way to find out.” Dustin stated. “Somebody lend me their compass.”

“Where's yours?” Lucas asked him.

“I left it at home.” Dustin half whispered as if ashamed.

“You left it at-”

“Yes I left it at home!” Dustin snapped before Lucas could finish voicing his disapproval.

“Guys who cares, just give him a compass.” Max demanded.

Mike reached out his arm, offering his compass to him.  
Dustin took it from him enthusiastically. He got up from his seat and began walking around, carefully studying the movements of the needle.  
“I got it.”

“Got what?” Max questioned, puzzled.

“The gate can change the direction of a compass needle.” he explained. “Instead of pointing true north it points to the gate.”

“So that'll lead us to the gate? Clever.” she nodded approvingly.

Dustin radiantly smiled at her, earning an eye-roll from Mike. He looked over at El.  
“Do you think you could close it?”

“Yes.”

“Well let's get going.” Lucas said, rising from his seat too.

“But wait shouldn't we call for some backup?” Dustin asked.

“Hop is gone.” El stated.

“Jonathan is out with Nancy.” Will added.

“Ah shit, and I don't have Steve's number...”

Lucas shook his head at Dustin.

“Wait!” Everyone turned to stare at Mike. “I think Will and I should stay here. The Mind Flayer is after him, so running to the gate won't be safe.”

“I''l stay too.” Max decided.

Mike and Will nodded at her. Max grabbed one of their walkies and threw it to Lucas.

“Keep in touch, okay?”

“We will.” Dustin promised.

“Stay safe.” Lucas told them.

And with that, Lucas, Dustin and El charged out of the house and into the woods once again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While El, Lucas and Dustin venture to the gate, Mike, Max and Will find themselves compromised by the Mind Flayer.

Several minutes had passed since the departure of El, Lucas and Dustin. Will was sat beside Mike, head resting on Mike's shoulder and Max was lying across the couch.

“Is there nothing that we can do?” Mike exclaimed suddenly, startling them both.

“You're the one who wanted to stay here!” Max pointed out.

“I know but I still wanna help! They're in danger.”

Will felt a wave of guilt; it was his fault that they were alone out in the woods with the Mind Flayer still loose somewhere. It was his fault that Max and Mike were stuck with him, worried and feeling useless.

“I don't think there are any tunnels to burn.” Max said bluntly.

A shiver was sent down Will's spine as the memory of the burning vines. He composed himself, but something was wrong.  
The cold feeling hadn't disappeared but was instead spreading back up his spine and to his neck which started to tingle. Confused, he frowned, drawing Max and Mike's attention back to him.

“Are you feeling okay?” Mike asked him.

“Yeah it's just...” then it dawned on him.  
Eyes wide with terror, Will slowly turned to face the shattered kitchen window. For a split second he briefly glanced movement from outside. Max followed his gaze to the window. She moved closer to it, carefully surveying the darkness outside.

“I saw something.” Will said.

Mike got up from his seat then too. He followed Max to the window- they both continued to hesitantly edge closer to it until they found themselves back at the kitchen counter. They closely examined the area outside but saw nothing but trees and bushes blowing gently in the winter breeze.  
Max and Mike turned away from the window and back to Will. The cold feeling was still creeping across his skin.

“There isn't anything out there.” Max stated.

Not even a second later, two vines made of black smoke shot through the opening in the wall and coiled themselves around Mike and Max. They screamed as it lifted them off the ground and tried to drag them through the window. They resisted, reaching out and securely gripping the edge of the kitchen counter. The hold around their torsos was tightening. They struggled to breathe.  
Will dashed to them immediately, firmly grabbing their arms and pulling them away with all his strength and energy. Eventually the shadowy vines slipped up, allowing Mike and Max an opening to wiggle free from their clutches.  
Will pulled them back inside. They all fell against the dining table behind them. Pain shot up Will's back as his back slammed into it. His back ached but he steadied himself then looked at the window.  
He was gone.

Their breathing was fast, heavy, heartbeats racing frantically.

“How did he know we were here?” Will asked, trembling.

Then the realisation clicked into place. Mike kicked himself mentally as punishment for not realising sooner.

“Your exorcism.” Mike panted, still shaken and out of breath. “He saw us here.”

“We need to get away from the windows.” Max stated.

The three of them urgently bolted away and into Will's room. Mike slammed the door shut behind him then they stood, silent and motionless, listening out for the Mind Flayer.  
The light in Will's room started flickering. 

“Holy shit.” Max gasped.

The three of them were frozen, unsure what to do. Mike glanced at the window in his room but could only see the midnight darkness.

“Down.” Mike muttered to them, lowering himself to the floor hidden from sight of the window by Will's bed.

Will and Max followed him down. Will's hand found Mike's, desperately holding onto it. Max couldn't keep her eyes from scanning the room, staring at each individual dancing shadow that was cast by the flickering light. Several sleeping bags were laid out across the floor and the three of them were currently crouched by Mike's.  
Max raised her head slightly over the edge of the bed to glance at the window before light flooded the room one final time. The bulb shattered, shrouding the room in total darkness. Max threw herself back down behind the cover of Will's bed. A few broken shards of glass fell but didn't land too close to them.  
Everyone held their breath.  
The eerie silence lay undisturbed.

“What do we do?” Max muttered to them both sat shaking beside her.

“I don't kno-” he stopped himself. His eyes moved away from Max's to stare at the floor, concentrating.

“Mike?” she whispered again.

He held his finger up telling her to be quiet. He listened, as did Max and Will.  
Then the same expression fell upon their faces. The same realisation.

Coming from the other side of the room behind them was a sound. It wasn't loud but it was sharp, unusual.  
Almost like a... _cracking._

Then it dawned on him. _The window._  
Mike flung himself around and back onto his feet, staring wide-eyed at the window as several cracks snaked across, splitting and branching into several different roots.  
Max and Will stood up as well. They turned their heads, following Mike's gaze, then froze just as he had.  
It was only when the window shattered and rained down as glass fragments onto Will's desk did their senses return to them.

“Go!" Mike yelled, tearing his eyes away.

Will reached forward and threw his door open. He charged out directly followed by Mike then Max.  
She turned to close it when, just as she grabbed the handle, she saw the familiar shadow of the Mind Flayer that made her skin crawl. The chair tucked beneath Will's desk was suddenly lifted into the air. In one silently swift motion, it was fired at her.  
With a scream Max abandoned the door and swung around away from the door frame.  
Mike and Will stared at her until the chair flew through the door and slammed into the wall.  
The three of them screamed, hearts stopping momentarily before racing again.  
Will shivered violently. Mike grabbed his wrist, almost pulling him along as Mike sprinted down the hallway, Max following close behind.  
Will stole a glance over his shoulder- vines of shadow were reaching around the door of his room   
and quickly slithering after them along the walls, floor and ceiling.

They didn't stop. Mike swung the front door open and continued dashing outside and into the woods without slowing his pace. Will did the same, the relief of escape running through him until he heard her screams. His relief died instantly, cold spreading through him in its place.  
Mike and Will snapped their heads around to look back at Will's infiltrated house.

Max was stood half in, half out of the building, tears streaming down her terrified face. Her fingers desperately dug into the outside walls as something kept pulling her back.  
They both ran over immediately. Just as they reached her, her hand slipped, causing her to suddenly get dragged back into the dark house.  
Mike extended his arm and grabbed her wrist. Once again she was kept in place, her left hand being pulled by the Mind Flayer and her right being pulled by Mike. Will joined too, firmly grasping her wrist.  
She strenuously took a step forward. Then another. Part of the Mind Flayer's shadow was forced to reach through the doorway and outside in order to keep hold of her. Max's body was now fully outside even though she was still being pulled in both directions.  
Mike saw an opportunity and took it without a second thought. With all his strength and effort, he kicked out at the front door, slamming it shut on the shadow coiled around Max's arm. It instantly dissipated upon collision, releasing its grip.

“You're okay now.” Mike assured her as she hugged them both, crying. Mike looked up from her to the door. Thankfully, it was still shut.

“We need to go.” Will stuttered, breaking himself away from the embrace.

Max and Mike followed wordlessly.  
With no sign of the Mind Flayer in pursuit, they took their chance and sprinted into the woods.

“Are we nearly at the gate?” Lucas inquired.

“I've told you before!” Dustin exclaimed. “These only tell direction not distance.”

Lucas rolled his eyes.  
El trudged along behind them both, glancing around the treetops and between the trees. It was really late now.  
Hundreds of stars twinkled in the black sky. El couldn't help but smile as she looked up at them, so bright, so dazzling. El often found herself admiring normal everyday sights, such as the stars or even the sun, since they'd been stolen from her for so many years of her life.  
She proceeded to walk forwards, head still gazing up the sky when she abruptly walked into Dustin who was stood still. He stumbled slightly then turned to look at her confused face. El glanced over his shoulder and saw it.  
A tiny area of the woods containing only a few trees in an obvious circle was much darker than the rest. Flies swarmed around the trees within, hovering around a strange sticky substance that seemed to cling to the bark. Several unusual vines covered the dirt.  
The, right in the centre of it all, a large gathering of vines coiled around a thick tree and, at the base, was a hole that glowed red from within.

El looked back at Lucas and Dustin who were exchanging glances of terror and panic. Lucas had his wrist rocket strapped to his wrist and Dustin clenched the compass in his hand.  
El took a step forward, catching their attention.

“Stay close.” she told them then, with a deep breath, continued to creep further into the twisted area.

The closer they got the thicker the air became. Eventually all three of them were forced to focus on breathing deeply.  
Finally they reached the centre tree. Dustin and Lucas looked around for any sign of danger.  
The rift to the Upside-Down that was embedded within the tree reached no higher than El's waist. She let out a quick sigh of relief.  
This would be easy compared to last time.

Meanwhile Max, Mike and Will, while they had slowed their pace considerably, were still hastily making their way through the woods towards Castle Byers.

“Are you sure Castle Byers will be safe?” Will asked.

“Safer than your house.” Mike responded.

“Where else could we go?” Max questioned back at him.

“I know but-”

“We'll be fine Will.” Mike cut him off. “I promise.”

He looked back at Will. They smiled at eachother lovingly. Happily.

Max screamed, drawing their attention away from one another. Mike and Will heard her skid to a halt.  
They turned to her and froze immediately.

Max was covering her mouth with her hands, disgust clear in her eyes. She desperately wanted to look away from the sight before her but couldn't. She was stuck, staring.  
Several mangled bird corpses were scattered around the leaf-strewn floor, chest and throats ripped open. Blood stained the leaves that piled around them.  
Then Max moved her eyes up and saw the corpse of the cat that they'd encountered. She squealed and backed away.  
It was in similar conditions to the birds; it was lying on its side, back burst open and claws bloody.  
Mike and Will were speechless.

“What... what happened?” Max whimpered.

“The Mind Flayer...” Mike replied, horrified. “We should go. Right now.”

Will nodded in agreement. Max finally pulled herself away from the revolting scene and ran back to them.

“Castle Byers is this way.” Will stuttered, pointing to their right.

Max and Mike nodded. With one last look, the three of them hurriedly departed for Will's hideout.

“I see it.” Max declared, slowing down and panting.

Mike and Will stopped beside her equally out of breath.

“Can either of you see anything?” Mike asked, looking around.

Max and Will scanned the area too.

“No I think it's clear.” Will stated, relieved.

The three of them speedily walked up to Castle Byers. Will lifted the sheet that hung over the entrance, allowing Mike and Max entry before following in behind them.

Will and Mike shuffled to the corner and rested against the wall. Will snuggled into Mike's comforting warmth. Max sat just infront of them.  
They all huddled together as close as possible to provide warmth in the winter cold since none of them really got the chance to grab any coats when leaving Will's house.  
Then a thought crossed Will's mind that made him panic.

“How will we know when they close the gate? Did either of you bring your walkies?”

“Shit...” Max muttered.

“No, we didn't.” Mike confirmed.

A thoughtful silence spread between them.

“Let's just hide here for a while.” Mike said.

“But for how long? We can't risk going back home until we know for certain that it's safe.” Will argued. “Unless we go looking for the others...”

“I gave Dustin my compass so, unless either of you have one, we can't track the gate.” Mike reminded them.

Max and Will shook their heads. “I think mine's at home.” he added.

“Well what if something happens to them? What if they try to contact us?” Max asks.

Will felt something tickle the hairs on his neck. He shivered, raising his hand to touch the back of his neck.  
Nothing.

“What's wrong?” Mike asked urgently.

“I think...”

Will never got to finish his sentence- black smoke began quickly seeping through the gaps in the walls of Castle Byers.  
They all turned to stare at eachother, wide-eyed and disbelieving.

“Go.” Max said loudly before jumping up and out of the hideout.

Mike and Will followed behind in a heartbeat. Once they were all out, they turned to see the shadow of the Mind Flayer looming over Castle Byers. It momentarily lingered in the air before reaching out for them once again.

“Run!” Mike yelled.

The three of them instantly sprinted away however they were still exhausted from their last run.  
But they carried on regardless- if they slowed even a tiny bit, the Mind Flayer would possess Will and only terrible things would follow.  
That couldn't happen. Not again.

El reached out her hand and concentrated her energy. She focused on the gate, closing it slowly. She immediately recognised the feeling of blood tickling her skin as it dripped from her nose.  
Dustin and Lucas stood silently in suspense behind her. Her hand trembled in the air but she remained focused. Gradually, the wood of the tree surrounding it began to close in.  
A smile was brought to their faces. It was working!

“I'll tell the others.” Lucas decided, pulling out his walkie that Max threw to him earlier.

“Max? It's Lucas, do you copy? Over.”

He waited. Silence.

“Max, I repeat. It's Lucas, do you copy? Over?”

He waited again. Nothing.

Their smiles were wiped clean from their faces.

“Wh-what's wrong?” El asked, breathing heavily from the thick air and the strain of closing the rift.

“I don't know.” Lucas responded. “Max, it's Lucas are you there? Over.”

Still nothing.

“Does anyone copy?” he said more urgently.

“What if something happened?” Dustin asked worriedly.

“Like what?”

“What if the Mind Flayer found them?”

“No it wouldn-” Lucas stopped himself, lost in thought for a moment before responding again. “Well the Mind Flayer isn't here, and don't you think it'd come to the gate if someone was trying to close it?”

Dustin nodded slowly in agreement. El frowned, still staring at the rift.

“But wouldn't the Mind Flayer prioritise protecting the gate over possessing Will?”

“If Will really did open the gate.” Lucas began. “Then he could just open it up again after we closed it.”

“Don't forget, closing the gate cuts off the any connection to the Upside-Down. He couldn't possess Will after we close it.” Dustin stated.

“What if he's already inside a host? Would that protect him?”

“No! If he's in a host then closing the gate would kill-” then Dustin stopped himself upon a dreadful realisation.

“What?” El questioned again, bewildered by their silence.

“If Will has been possessed _again_ then closing the gate would kill him.” Lucas said.

He lifted the walkie to his mouth once again. “Max? Mike? Will? Anyone, do you copy?” Silence. “Are you safe?!”

Still silence.

“Shit.”

“What do we do?” El queried.

“I don't know.” Lucas whispered.

“Something must've happened or they would've answered by now.” Dustin said.

“Well how can we find out if they're safe?”

“Maybe one of us should go back...” Dustin suggested.

“Alone through the woods? With the Mind Flayer somewhere out there?”

“We can't leave El alone here!” Dustin argued.

“I agree, but nobody should go anywhere on their own. It's too dangerous.”

Suddenly a twig snapped, ending their conversation.  
Ell turned back to the gate; it was still closing but very slowly. Lucas and Dustin scanned the area.  
Lucas quickly lowered himself to the ground, picked up a handful of rocks then stood back up. He loaded his wrist rocket with one of them then continued searching for any sign of movement.

“Should we go and look around?” Dustin asked fearfully.

Before anyone could answer, the three of them heard swift footsteps pounding on the forest floor when suddenly El screamed from behind them, followed by a thump and a roar.

_It couldn't be..._

Dustin and Lucas spun around instantly.  
El was pinned to the floor, a demodog stood on her chest. She screamed again, claws digging into her torso. Blood began staining her clothes.

“Do something!” Dustin screamed.

Lucas didn't miss a beat; he aimed his wrist rocket and fired one of the rocks.  
It collided with one of the demodog's legs but it didn't take any notice. Tears streamed down El's face as she continued to scream in agony. Hovering close over her face, the demodog opened up its mouth...

Lucas fired another rock, this one hitting the creature in one of the petal-like flaps surrounding its mouth. It made a whining sound and instantly jumped off of her.  
It diverted its attention away from El who was still lying on the floor, hugging her arms around herself and over her bleeding wounds. Lucas and Dustin flinched under its piercing stare.  
The demodog let out a shorter roar before leaping over El and charging towards the two of them.

“Shit!” Dustin screamed and started sprinting away, Lucas close behind.

It was rapidly gaining on them until, once it was close enough, it pounced at Lucas.  
He hurriedly spun and shot it with another rock, knocking it out of the air infront of him.  
It crashed to the floor but without a second delay was back on its feet again. For the final time the demodog pounced at Lucas as his back was turned.  
El flicked her hand out, momentarily ignoring her wounds to restrain the monster midair.  
Upon hearing its cry of distress Lucas and Dustin stopped and turned around.

“Holy mother of God....” Dustin blurted out at the sight of the demodog desperately flailing its limb to try and escape El's psychic hold.

El screamed again then flung her arm to the side. Simultaneously the demodog was thrown through the air.  
It screeched in agony as it flew until it collided loudly with a tree and dropped to the ground.  
Lucas and Dustin stared at it for a few seconds- it was dead.

They both turned to her. She was still crying in pain but a small smile flashed across her face at their safety.  
Lucas and Dustin dashed towards her. They each grabbed one of her arms and pulled her up to her feet. El flinched from her injury but she maintained balance.

“I'm... okay.” she breathed heavily.

Lucas and Dustin exchanged worried glances but ultimately nodded to her as she limped back to stand infront of the gate. El extended both her arms and concentrated again on closing the rift.

“That must've been what Max saw in the lab... What if there are more?” Lucas asked, breaking the silence.

“They'll die when the gate closes.” Dustin replied simply, still worrying about the others.

“Shit, not this way!”

Dustin and Lucas turned around- Mike, Max and Will were stood not too far from them, faces struck with terror and exhaustion.

“Guys!” Lucas yelled.

But then the large shadow of the Mind Flayer came into view behind them.

“Watch out!” Lucas shouted as loud as he could.

The three of them turned to look behind them. They started sprinting towards Dustin and Lucas but couldn't make it far- the Mind Flayer swept them off their feet.  
Mike and Max were thrown slightly forward whereas Will just fell onto the ground infront of him. The Mind Flayer circled around Will to cut him off from everyone else.  
He desperately scrabbled along the floor away from the Mind Flayer but it was no use; the Mind Flayer reached for Will again but froze before he could reach him.

Mike, Max, Lucas and Dustin looked around in amazement at El who was staring at the shadow.  
Blood now trickled from ears as well as her nose, a sign of how much she'd used her powers. Just like she did with the demodog, El threw the Mind Flayer to the side away from Will and everyone else.

But their victory was short lived; he instantly recovered, flying at her with frightening speed. Before she could react the Mind Flayer charged into her, sending El toppling to the ground.

“El!” Mike screamed, running towards her.

The Mind Flayer turned to him, swiftly sending a long shadowy vine crashing into his chest- he too fell to the floor.  
Lucas, Dustin and Max stood hopelessly infront of Will as he climbed back to his feet. The shadow loomed over them.  
The four of them hurriedly backed away. Then, out the corner of his eyes, Will saw Mike leaning against a tree, signalling for him to run over. Will nodded at him then drew his attention back to the Mind Flayer.

“When I say, you two run that way while Max and I run this way.” Will explained. “He'll chase us so you two go back to El and close the gate while we distract him.”

With no time to argue, the three of them wordlessly agreed.

“Now!” Will cried.

The four of them immediately split up into their groups of two; Lucas and Dustin ran to the right whilst Will and Max sprinted to the left.  
And, as predicted, the Mind Flayer pursued them without hesitation.

Mike saw them running towards him so he began sprinting too, creating a path for them both to follow that led deep into the woods and away from the gate. Max and Will followed.

Lucas and Dustin crouched down beside El who was lying on the floor unconscious.  
They both shook her. She breathed sharply before quickly jumping to her feet. She looked at them both questioningly upon noticing the Mind Flayer and everyone else's absence.

“They're distracting him.” Lucas explained.

“Which means you _have_ to close the gate now.” Dustin said urgently.

El nodded then ran back to the gate. She concentrated the remainder of her strength to the one task of closing the rift.

Max looked over her shoulder.

“It's gone.” she said, relieved but also extremely confused.

“What?” Mike stopped and looked around too.

The Mind Flayer had vanished.  
Will darted his eyes around before pointing to another gathering of bushes.  
“Let's hide there.”

Mike and Max nodded.

The three of them crouched low amongst them. They all listened out but heard nothing.  
Mike and Will grabbed eachother's hands for comfort.

“Are you okay?” Mike asked, turning to his boyfriend.

“I'm fine but what about you? Are you hurt?” he asked back, eyes watering.

Mike couldn't help himself from smiling. “I'm fine, don't worry about me.”

“I can't believe this is really happening...” Max stated.

“I know...” Mike agreed. “I thought we'd actually finished this.”

“When El closes this gate, it'll _really_ be over.” Max said confidently.

“What if I somehow open another gate?” Will whispered, panicking.

“You won't.” Mike assured him.

Will sighed and fell into Mike's arms. He shut his eyes; for the first time in the whole night, he felt safe.

“I want this to be over.” he muttered.

“It will be, soon.” Mike said, delicately stroking Will's hair and gliding his fingertips across his forehead.

“We never did finish our conversation.” Will chuckled.

Mike glowed with joy at the sound of Will's laughter, something he hadn't heard in days. He nearly forgot to answer.  
“What conversation?”

“You know, about telling everyone.”

This caught Max's attention.

“Oh, right. Well, after this is over...” Mike let out a deep sigh. “We can tell them.”

“Wait you're gonna tell Lucas, El and Dustin?” Max inquired.

Will opened his eyes and twisted his head around in Mike's lap to face her. “Yeah.” he confirmed with a smile- there was fear and worry behind that smile, but there was also confidence and certainty.

She smiled in return.  
“Don't worry, if they say anything I'll break their legs.” Max joked, earning a brighter smile from them both.

Regardless of the joke, Mike and Will appreciated her support more than they could express.

The heartwarming moment was soon snatched away from them.  
The bushes they were hidden in rustled, but nobody had moved. Will bolted upright and out of Mike's lap.  
Will's neck began to tingle...

“Go.” he whispered to them.

They all leaped to their feet and out of the bushes. They turned to see if the Mind Flayer was there and saw him directly infront of them.  
Shocked, they jumped back.

Nobody had to say anything; all three of them started sprinting away but the Mind Flayer, in one swift move, latched onto Mike's leg, tripping him over. His face slammed the floor. His nose stung and he felt blood run from it.  
Then suddenly he was being dragged along the floor away from Will and Max. He flung his hands around, desperately grabbing at anything he could find to stop himself but he found nothing.

“Mike!” Will cried, tears now falling from his eyes.

Him and Max chased after him.

“Mike!” he screamed again.

Will somehow ran faster than he already was, leaving Max behind as he quickly gained on Mike then launched himself forwards. He slammed chest first onto the floor, knocking the air out of his lungs. Regardless Will flicked his hands forward and just managed to grab Mike's.  
The Mind Flayer stopped dragging Mike but instead held him in place. Will looked up at its shadow that blocked out the moon and starlight. Only darkness stared back.

Mike pulled his hands away from Will's.  
“Will run!”

Pain filled his eyes that sparkled with tears. “I can't leave you Mike!”

“You have to!” he cried in response.

Suddenly two arms hooked around Will's torso, lifting him up to his feet and away from Mike and the Mind Flayer. Will looked over his shoulder to see Max.

“Max let me go!” he screamed desperately, kicking out and struggling to break free.

She didn't listen- she continued to pull him away.

“_Max!_” he screamed out again with his voice broken from his crying.

The Mind Flayer continued hovering over Mike's captive body.

“I'm sorry...” she whimpered quietly into his ear.

Will didn't think. He struck Max in the stomach with his elbow.  
She involuntarily released him, moving her hands to clutch her stomach. Will instantly rushed away from her and back towards Mike.  
He couldn't lose him. He _couldn't._

Will remembered the agony he'd felt when he'd had that nightmare before: the demogorgon snatching Mike away into the woods, Will running after him and finding it hunched over a body that was invisible in the darkness. But Will had spied Mike's shoes lying limp in the dirt beside it.  
He knew.  
The heartbreak, the pain, the grief... it was crippling. And that was only a nightmare.

The Mind Flayer took notice of Will as he drew nearer. He released Mike from his grip; Mike immediately jumped to his feet and ran to Will.  
However the Mind Flayer didn't ignore him for long- it slammed another shadowy vine into Mike's leg, throwing him to the floor before he could reach Will.  
He froze in his tracks, the Mind Flayer coming closer and closer by the second.  
He'd accepted it.

Then he heard Max running behind him. The Mind Flayer launched the vine towards her.  
Will looked around in horror as it brutally whipped her in the side of her head. She soundlessly fell to the floor and didn't move.

Will breathed fast and shallowly. The Mind Flayer reached out for him once again.  
_I love you Mike_

“El! You're almost there, come on!” Lucas yelled.

El screamed, giving one final push of her powers before the rift closed completely.  
She released herself then collapsed with exhaustion. Dustin and Lucas quickly outstretched their arms and caught her before she hit the ground. Her eyes were slowly shutting but she flicked them open again. El tediously lifted herself back onto her feet.

“The others.” she breathed tiredly.

Lucas and Dustin nodded. Together, they ran into the woods, hoping they'd come across them uninjured and safe.

The three of them were still darting between the trees, desperation and panic growing rapidly. Their eyes were watering as they scanned everything for any signs of them. They were beginning to lose hope.

“El.” Dustin turned to her. “Can you find them? With your powers?”

She shook her head, the tears finally escaping and flowing down her face. “Not now. I'm sorry...”

“Wait, over there!” Lucas pointed.

Dustin and El looked over. Peering out from behind a bush was Max's head slumped against the floor.  
Lucas sprinted towards her, El and Dustin not far behind.

“Max!” he yelled.

Her head twitched before she stirred, slowly pushing herself up onto her knees. Max turned to face Lucas. Her head injury was revealed to them, blood dripping down the side of her face.  
But Max didn't care. She smiled, happy to see him, then panic took over and she looked around frantically until her eyes fell upon Will who was crouched beside Mike.  
Dustin and El ran over to them as Lucas carefully helped her onto her feet.

“Will!” Dustin called.

“Mike!” El shouted soon after.

Will looked over his shoulder at them. They both skidded to a halt then dropped down to crouch beside him too.  
Mike's head was resting on Will's leg, the rest of him lying comfortably on the floor.

“How's your leg?” Will asked softly.

“In pain.” Mike responded, but looked up into Will's eyes and smiled.

“The Mind Flayer?” Dustin inquired.

“He's gone.” Will said happily.

Lucas and Max appeared beside them too.

Will quickly turned to her. “Max, you're head!”

“I'm okay.” she sighed. “The gate, did you close it?” she then asked.

“Yes.” El responded simply, a bright grin forming across her face too.

“It's over.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the threat defeated, the Party rest at Will's house.

A few days had passed since the latest incident.

Max, Mike and El had been treated for their injuries by Joyce who had a major freak out upon returning to the house with several windows shattered and wounded children. She just opened up the door and there they were, all sat around the TV smiling at her. She must've stood infront of them without saying anything for at least a minute.  
After their wounds were treated Joyce forced them all to tell her what happened- she was caring and, of course, glad they were all safe. However, she did have a go at them about not telling her about any of this until now, which was understandable.  
The sleepover carried on like normal; they all stayed up and played a few board games before going to sleep since, by the time they'd returned home, it was already almost 2am.  
And they were all exhausted.

Max was the first to wake up. Her head ached but it wasn't anything awful.  
Her and El had shared the living room when they slept. It was awkward but they talked a tiny bit at least.  
Max stepped out of her sleeping bag and immediately noticed a note on the table. She frowned then walked over to it.

_You can all stay home today! No school._  
Take care of eachother and please stay in the house.  
Love, Joyce xx 

“Oh my god!” Max beamed with excitement, waking El.

El rubbed her eyes then looked up at Max. “What is it?”

She turned to El. “No school!”

It didn't apply to her but El glowed with joy- if there was no school then she could spend today with everyone too!  
“I'll call Hop.” she stated.

Max sprinted to Will's room and recklessly threw the door open.  
“Guys, wake up!” she yelled.

Mike was sleeping in his sleeping bag down beside Will's bed. Lucas and Dustin peered over the top of his bed as Will lifted his head from his pillow. Max glanced at Mike who was still asleep.  
She rolled her yes, stepped forward then kicked him in the shoulder.

“Ow!” he exclaimed, eyes flicking open to glare at her.

She continued smiling at everyone. “We don't have to go to school today!”

“What?!” Dustin and Lucas shouted excitedly together.

Mike and Will shared cheerful looks.  
Max exited Will's room, a smile still bright as day on her face.

Then a thought crossed Will's mind, filling him with excitement and worry.  
“Mike!” he muttered so that Lucas and Dustin didn't hear.

Mike raised his eyebrows at him, urging him to continue.  
“Should we tell them? Like, in a minute?”

“Uh y-yeaah, sure.” Mike said. He smiled but Will could see the fear in his eyes too.

“We'll be okay.” he smiled back comfortingly then turned to Lucas and Dustin. “Uhh Mike and I have something we want to tell you.”

“What's up?” Lucas asked.

“Oh no I meant, like, everyone.”

Lucas and Dustin nodded at him, puzzled looks on their faces. However they didn't question him.

After everybody had got changed, Max gathered Lucas, Dustin and El around the living room. Max went and sat beside Lucas as they waited for Mike and Will to emerge from his room to break the news.

Mike and Will anxiously strolled into the living room and stood infront of them all. Everyone immediately had their eyes on them questioningly.  
They both glanced at Max who was grinning at them reassuringly. They both shyly smiled back.

“So, there's something we have to tell you.” Mike sighed shakily.

“Max already knows.” Will stated.

Lucas and Dustin turned to stare at her accusingly.  
She ignored them, keeping her attention on Will and Mike.

There was an awkward silence as Will and Mike tried to fight the right words.

Will shut his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. “I'm gay.” he said bluntly.

Dustin and Lucas' eyes widened.

“What's gay?” El questioned before anybody could say anything.

“It means I like boys instead of girls.” he explained nervously, face turning red.

“So I'm gay?” El followed up.

“No no, when a boy likes another boy or when a girl likes another girl.” he felt his face burn even more.

“Oh.” she said understandingly. “Is that bad?”

“It's not really... accepted.” Mike stated, then continued. “Also, Will and I are dating.” he said quickly.

“Oh.” all three of them gasped.

Another silence followed, this one millions of times more awkward than the last. Max darted her eyes between El, Lucas and Dustin with uncertainty.

“That's why you didn't want to come to the Snow Ball...” El said softly, looking at Mike.

Guilt jabbed at him. “I'm sorry, El-”

She shook her head at him. “I'm happy for you.”

Mike smiled. A lump formed in his throat as he turned to Lucas and Dustin.

“How long?” Dustin queried curiously.

“A couple weeks.” Will replied.

He nodded. “It's unexpected, but it doesn't change anything.” he grinned at them. “We're still a Party and we're still best friends, right?”

“Yeah.”  
“Right.”  
Mike and Will nodded. Tears threatened to spill from their eyes but they managed to hold them in.

Now everyone was staring at Lucas. Max rolled her eyes then kicked him in the ankle.

“Hey!”

She continued staring at him expectantly.

“It's kinda weird.” Lucas admitted. Mike and Will's hearts stopped. “But as Dustin said, it doesn't change anything.”

And before they knew it, Mike and Will were crying. They both smiled, a colossal weight lifted from their shoulders. It finally felt like they could breathe again.

They both ran over to the four of them who then met Mike and Will in the centre of the living room.  
A group hug, started first by El, then Max, then Dustin and Lucas. Mike and Will continued crying happily as their closest friends surrounded them in a loving embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for taking the time to read this
> 
> It's nothing special, but I loved writing it and I hope you all had fun reading it! <3

**Author's Note:**

> I plan on regularly updating this with a chapter every other day! I had loads of fun writing this so I hope you enjoy reading it.
> 
> Kudos and comments appreciated <3


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